


I'll Never Forget You

by shrill_fangirl_screaming



Series: all the stony au oneshots [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Amnesia, M/M, Temporary Amnesia, everyone lives in avengers tower and it's not weird
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-28
Updated: 2014-06-28
Packaged: 2018-02-06 14:01:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1860660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shrill_fangirl_screaming/pseuds/shrill_fangirl_screaming
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve wakes up after a battle with no memories since the 1940s, but a team and a family who are determined to help him remember.</p><p>(does not need to be read in conjunction with the rest of the series)</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'll Never Forget You

Ice.

Steve remembers a plane he couldn’t save, a dance he’d never have, and then the crushing embrace of the ice. He remembers wishing his body wasn’t so enhanced, so he could drown or freeze already. He remembers a short eternity of the cold and the dark. He remembers dreaming.

He wakes up with a jolt on a hospital bed (the walls are too pristinely white to be anything else) to the beeping of various machines. There’s an IV in his arm, and he resists the urge to rip it out.

“He’s waking up,” someone says from his bedside. “Go get Stark.”

There’s laughter. “He’s gonna kill us. The one time we’re able to pry him away from here, and he wakes up.”

Steve blinks a few times to try and pull his vision into focus before rolling his head towards the voices. A woman is sitting by his bedside while a man strolls out the door. His vision is still a bit on the fritz which should worry him but his brain is too fuzzy for that. “Peggy?” Her hair is almost right and she sits right, but would Peggy ever wear a skintight suit?

“Hey, Cap,” the woman says, and right, no British accent. “You had us worried there for a little while.”

He’s never seen this woman before in his life. “Where’m I?”

She smiles, but it’s sharp and small, not at all like Peggy’s. “SHIELD Medical. Where else?”

“What’s SHIELD?” he manages to ask.

Emotion drains from the woman’s face. “Captain. Focus. Tell me your name.”

It’s harder than it should be. “Steven Grant Rogers.”

“Good. Tell me my name,” the woman says.

Steve shakes his head, causing the back of it to throb painfully. “I’m sorry, ma’am, I don’t know it. Have we met?”

She stares at him, owl-eyed, for a moment before pressing a hand to her ear. “No- no, Clint, don’t- no, listen, something’s wrong, Steve doesn’t know me, I don’t want him in here if- shit.”

The woman stands fluidly and walks to the door just as it flies open and a man walks in. He’s a stranger, in a bedraggled t-shirt and jeans, with unkempt hair and an uneven, unshaven beard. The woman plants her hands on his shoulders and says, “Something’s wrong. You should go.”

“He’s awake, dammit,” the man says angrily, before glancing over at Steve. “Tell Nat to calm the hell down and let me in.”

Steve meets his eyes and it makes his head throb. “I’m sorry, who are you?”

Emotions flicker across the man’s face. At first one side of his mouth pulls up and he huffs a little laugh, but as the silence stretches out something breaks in his eyes and he looks at the woman, lost. “He’s got amnesia?”

“The doctors said that was a possibility,” the woman replied. 

The man brushes her hands off angrily. “Yeah, but he’s Steve.”

“You need to go,” the woman says. “Go get the doctors. I’ll fill him in on the basics.” The man looks reluctant, but all the woman has to do is cross her arms before he slinks out the room, looking lost. The woman takes her seat again by Steve’s bedside. “Sorry about him. That’s Tony Stark.”

“I didn’t know Howard had any family,” Steve says, but his head blurs harder at this point so he lets it go. “Is he your boyfriend?”

The woman presses her lips together to stifle a smile. “No, he is most certainly not. My name is Natasha Romanoff, and you have amnesia.”

Steve nods. “I gathered that.”

That earns him a lip-quirk, which is basically a full-fledged smile from Natasha. “Anyway, three years ago you were discovered and defrosted by an intelligence agency founded by Howard Stark and Peggy Carter.” At this she pauses and considers him. “The year was 2011.”

At first, Steve doesn’t respond, which he realizes is foolish. He lost seventy years, he should be panicking, at least a little. There should be some shock.

But there isn’t. He’s sure that Natasha isn’t lying about the amnesia, because the year being 2014 sounds perfectly normal, despite it being 1945 only yesterday. “Okay,” Steve replies. “That… sounds right.”

Natasha considers him for a moment before pressing on. “You joined a team of superheroes shortly after being defrosted and helped save the world. We’ve been together ever since. The man who left, Tony Stark, he’s called Iron Man. I’m known as the Black Widow. We also have members called the Hulk, Hawkeye, and Thor.”

_A red hourglass, a good green monster in purple pants, the smooth lines of a bow and arrow, the smell of ozone and the crackle of lighting._

The images flash by as Natasha lists teammates, with one exception. Iron Man.

Again, Steve should be freaking out, but it all feels familiar and normal. Of course he’s a superhero; of course he has a team, of course he remembers them. “Tony Stark,” he repeats. The name makes his head ache.

Natasha’s expression becomes guarded. “What about him?”

“Who is he?” Steve eventually asks.

She sits back and considers the question. “He’s Howard Stark’s son,” she says carefully. “He’s your second-in-command for the team.”

This didn’t feel like the truth- well, all of it was definitely true, he supposed, but it wasn’t what he was looking for. There was something that Natasha wasn’t telling him, and it set him on edge.

However, doctors rushed in at that point to examine him and shine lights in his eyes, and all further questions about the Avengers and Tony were shoved to the back of his head.

 

The Tower is big but clearly full of life. Shoes are strewn across the foyer floor, along with a few sidearms, a bow, and tangles of wire. Lights flicker on automatically as he walked in with Natasha.

“Welcome home, Captain,” a voice says from above him.

Steve smiles and looks up. “Thanks, Jarvis.” No one is there. The smile slowly slides from his face as he turns to look at Natasha. “Where’s Jarvis?”

“He’s an artificial intelligence system that runs the Tower for us,” Natasha explains. “It’s good that you remember his name, though. The doctors say old routines should bring back old memories. Like greeting Jarvis when you walk in the door.”

She bends to pick up one of the sidearms on the ground, smoothly ejecting the ammunition from it and pocketing it. “That doesn’t seem safe,” Steve notes.

Natasha smiles. “Why wouldn’t it be? We’re all superheroes here.”

Something about that itches in his mind. “We’ve had this argument before,” Steve says unsurely. “There’s a good reason we’re not supposed to leave loaded guns lying around, even with the safety on.” He glances around the room, hoping for something to trigger his memory.

His eyes land on a pair of tiny pink shoes.

_A little girl runs across the foyer in little pink shoes, giggling madly as she is chased by a tall blond man, still in battle armor. Despite being little more than a toddler, she manages not to trip on the dangerous weapons and sundry items strewn across the floor._

_Including guns._

_Steve angrily picks up the guns, noting who they belong to- mostly Clint- and shouts, “June could trip on these or think they’re toys, guys, please, pick up the guns!”_

The flashback is as disorienting as it is vivid, but it gives him an answer to give to Natasha. “June. June could come across them." 

“She’s three,” Natasha replies as she always does, “And Jane and Thor keep their daughter on a close leash.” 

__The argument feels so achingly familiar. “We still shouldn’t leave loaded guns where children could find them.”_ _

__“Okay,” Natasha says in what feels to Steve like uncharacteristic agreeableness. “Whose guns are these, again?” She twirls them expertly in her fingers, still collecting ammunition._ _

__There are thigh holsters in her outfit, but these guns are too big. “Clint’s,” he says._ _

__Natasha grins. “See? You’ll remember everything in no time. I should go return these to their master.”_ _

__As she walks out, Steve says, “You have left guns around before, though, right?”_ _

__She doesn’t reply. Steve doesn’t really expect her to. The more time he spends around Natasha, the more he kind-of remembers her. He couldn’t quite put his finger on anything specific, but talking to her felt familiar, as if he were as used to that half-quirk of a smile as he was to his hands, or his shoes. He couldn’t remember the reasons why, but he knew how she was going to react._ _

__“So, Jarvis, what do I normally do now?” he asks, because to be honest he’s not quite sure._ _

__“It is nearly dinnertime, Captain,” the AI replies smoothly, and Steve barely even thinks about its accent. It’s just British. “I recommend you find your way to the kitchen.”_ _

__For a second, Steve stares into the Tower blankly, but then he hears voices coming down one hallway and he has a sudden memory flash into his brain, vivid as a video._ _

___“Come on, Tony, you’ve been down there for twelve hours, it’s time to eat!” Steve says, dragging Tony behind him. “You’re eating dinner with the team and that’s that.”_ _ _

_The other man rolled his eyes dramatically. “Pepper didn’t bother with anything under thirty-six,” he replies._

_“Well, I’m not Pepper,” Steve says with a soft smile, “And I insist upon you eating a good square meal at least twice a day.”_

_Tony smiles back. “Gotta keep the team strong.”_

_“You know it’s not that.”_

_Steve pulls Tony down the hallway and around the corner, towards the kitchen._

_______Steve doesn’t remember who Pepper is or where Tony was for twelve hours, but that interaction definitely happened and the two of them definitely went that way to the kitchen._ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______So that is the way Steve goes, walking down and letting his instinct guide him to a warmly lit room where a crowd of people stood, preparing various courses._ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______The only woman in the room looks up as he walks in and smiles. “Steve! Good to see you, you had us all worried. You’re home in time for dinner.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______“Jane,” he replies, staring at her._ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______She smiles. “Clearly, the reports of your amnesia are greatly exaggerated.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______This is clearly a reference to something that flies straight over his head, so he smiles at her as kindly as he can and looks around the room._ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______He has a name for every face, which would be more reassuring if Natasha had not described his team to him in great detail. “Natasha helped me,” he says in response to Jane, “But there are a few things I just kind of remember. Random things, like… apparently I tugged Tony up here for dinner once?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______“Once,” someone sniggers in a corner. “Once.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______Steve turns to him. “Clint. Stop leaving your loaded guns in the foyer.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______Clint leans back dramatically, head thunking against cabinets. “I thought, for once, I might be spared this argument, but no, not even amnesia can prevent Momma Rogers-“_ _ _ _ _ _ _

_“I’m so sorry, Steve,” Tony says, one hand on Steve’s shoulder._

_Steve is kneeling in front of a familiar gravestone, his mother’s. It’s right where it’s always been but more disheveled and unkempt than Steve remembers, because no one’s been visiting it for nearly seventy years. “She deserves better,” Steve manages to say._

_“I know,” Tony says, “Do you want an art wing at a college in her honor? I could make a Sarah Rogers scholarship at some women’s art college-“_

_“Don’t throw money at this, Tony,” Steve says in a quiet, defeated tone like he’s said it hundreds of times. “Stand there and be with me right now.”_

_Because Tony is incapable of following instructions, he kneels beside Steve in front of the gravestone. “Hey, Momma Rogers,” Tony says, “Steve talks about you like you hung the moon, so I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t want your boy here beating himself up about not visiting you for so long. He was frozen, not his fault. Sorry about that. Don’t worry, though, I’m taking good care of him. So you don’t have to worry anymore. I guess.”_

___________“-Steve? Should we call his doctors?” Jane says worriedly, standing on tiptoes to peer into his eyes. “Steve.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________“Sorry,” he says, smiling reassuringly at Jane, who softens a little. “Just, remembering things.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________Interest sparks in her eyes as she asks, “What?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________He suddenly knows that she’s not going to back down on this because this is Jane Foster, but he also knows he doesn’t want to share that memory. So he does something he does rarely- he lies. “The team, making dinner,” he says as nonchalantly as possible._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________He can tell he doesn’t fool Jane so he asks something he’s pretty sure will change the topic. “Where’s your daughter?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________Jane beams, and Steve knows he’s right. “Thor’s feeding June in the dining room, where we all normally eat. You can go say hi to them, dinner will be out in a bit.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________Steve walks out into the dining room where Thor is in fact feeding June just as a disheveled Tony Stark walks in._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________Tony stares at him for a moment, eyes wide, before he tries to retreat into the kitchen. Steve stops him with a hand on his arm before asking, “You and I… we were friends, right?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________“Yep good friends,” Tony replies while squirming and avoiding eye contact. “I need coffee, let me go-“_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________“It’s evening,” Steve says with a frown._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________Tony winces. “I know but I need coffee I need it Steve let me go-“_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________“No,” Steve says, and suddenly knows that this is an argument they have with alarming regularity. “I always tell you no but you always ask, why is that?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________“Because I need it and you’re a buzzkill,” Tony says without any real venom._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________Steve shakes his head. “Sit down, it’s almost dinner.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________He doesn’t know how Tony is going to respond, which is odd. Steve has fuzzy impressions of all the others, indefinite things that slither away if he looks at them too closely, but nothing for Tony. They were clearly friends- he wouldn’t have brought just anyone to his mother’s grave- so why didn’t Steve remember him?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________“You were there, in the fight when I lost my memories, right?” Steve asks as he takes his place at the table._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________Tony takes his, next to him. “Yes,” he replies warily._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________“What happened?” Steve asks._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________The other man was clearly not expecting the question. “Well, um,” he stammers, “We were fighting the Enchantress-“ a flash in Steve’s mind of blonde hair and green dress “- and things were getting kind of dicey-“ Hawkeye, Hulk, and Thor under her spell, Widow with a broken wrist “- and you hit your head.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________“No,” Steve says because it’s wrong, he doesn’t know how he knows but it’s wrong. “No, that’s not right.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________Tony shrugs and his hands fly up, but there’s something wrong with that expression, something false. “Well that’s what happened, Capsicle, so-“_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Green light wicked smile bared teeth chatter over comms stupid punny one-liner_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________“No, she put a spell on me,” Steve says, more to himself._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________Tony sighs. “Okay, she put a spell on you and it made you topple backwards off a tall building and onto the Hulk.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________That sounds better. “That’s right,” Steve says._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________He would press for more answers, but Jane walks out of the kitchen with cheesy bread and lasagna so he sits back and enjoys dinner with the team. He doesn’t forget._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________The team watches cheesy movies Steve half-remembers for a few hours after dinner, but Jane and Thor peel off early to tuck in June, and Steve starts to grow tired shortly after. He bids the team goodnight and goes to his bedroom on autopilot._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________Which might have been a mistake._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________The second he crosses the threshold of the room he collapses to the ground, head aching like it is being split in two. From what he can see through watering eyes, the room is full of memories he doesn’t remember making, all of him and Tony. Arguing about what to hang on the walls, dancing to old recordings, kissing on the bed, looking after June in front of the TV. Countless ghostly copies of him and Tony reenact countless times spent together in this room, and the remembering of it nearly tears Steve in two._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________He doesn’t know how long he sits there, trembling, as memories assault him, but he knows it’s long enough for Tony to come in and find him there like a madman._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________Without seeming to think about it, Tony gathers Steve into his arms and presses little kisses into his hair. This makes the memories worse but also more bearable, so Steve clings to Tony like an octopus and tries to wait the visions out._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________Eventually, he realizes that Tony is talking._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________“-so sorry, they said the Enchantress might have done something that was going to mess with you, I mean, she was tearing into us about the UST we have going on and I mean that’s great and all but I didn’t figure she’d do this, I was honestly expecting to find you as a woman or something but this is just-“_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________Steve understands maybe one word in ten but he gets the gist. He loves this man, and he knows this despite the memory loss and the magic. He knows this the way he knows the sky is blue and the grass is green. It just took him a second to remember._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________So he grabs the back of Tony’s head and gives him an enthusiastically-met kiss._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________It’s like coming home._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________When they manage to pull themselves apart, Steve realizes the memories have stopped. He feels completely fine. After a few seconds of thought, he realizes the memories didn’t just stop- they slotted themselves neatly back into position in his brain, like nothing had ever happened._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________“I remember,” Steve says hoarsely._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________“What?” Tony asks._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________Steve shrugs. “Everything.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


End file.
